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Three New Motets 'in memoriam Thomas Tallis'

2005; No 1: 5 September; No 2: 30 August; No 3: 25 June; SATB SATB unaccompanied; composed for the Kansas City Chorale, the Grinnell Singers, Seattle Pro Musica as part of Tallis's 500th birthday celebrations; first performed in Kansas City 19/1/2006

Reviews

'In the fourth year of Stephen Layton's directorship the Trinity choir's sense of corporate ease and confidence is such that nothing fazes them. The singing is beautifully blended, the parts sensitively balanced, the absence of spurious vibrato a constant pleasure. Typically outstanding Hyperion sound caps this warmly recommendable issue' (BBC Music Magazine)

'Maestro Layton is a master of shading and dynamic control, so there's always a sense of ebb and flow to the glowing harmonies that animate this music' (American Record Guide)

'First, a health warning: it is impossible to do anything else but listen once the opening track of this glorious album begins … here is music making of the highest quality. I don’t have the space to mention all of the choral wonders on this disc but I can say with certainty that it is an album that will repay repeated listening for years to come' (Classic FM Magazine)

Introduction

Of the three texts chosen by Steven Stucky for his Three New Motets ‘in memoriam Thomas Tallis’, composed in 2005 for the Seattle Pro Musica as part of Tallis’s 500th birthday celebrations, only O sacrum convivium was definitely set by the old Elizabethan master. Alongside the rhythmic urgency of O sacrum convivium, O admirabile commercium and O vos omnes, both predominantly homophonic, are quiet and respectful, much like Tallis’s own shorter four-part motets. For all their adventurous harmonic language they engender a modest yet powerful feeling of homage to their dedicatee.